You Found Me
by lovelover123
Summary: Tom finds Rachel fighting for her life after being shot by an Immune. Will he be able to save her in time? More importantly, will they finally be able to confess their feelings before it is too late? (A continuous story that is essentially my take on S3.)
1. Lost Then Found

_Hi everyone! Here's a fic I've been brainstorming since the finale. I plan to continue it for quite some time while we wait (not so patiently) for season 3. I want to give a special thank you to my Tomchel family who I couldn't survive the wait without, especially Ana who always lets me bounce ideas off of her, helps me brainstorm and just generally keeps me sane ;) I hope you enjoy the story. Please leave a review!_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own The Last Ship, unfortunately. But if I did,_ this _would happen…_

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 **CHAPTER 1: Lost Then Found**

" _ **I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you." - Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince**_

"Find me," he commanded deeply, full of desire and complete certainty. It was his last attempt to show how he felt, trying to hold her there just a moment longer. His eyes pierced her as they communicated the way they always had, no words, just one look. Even from the beginning, it was all they had ever needed. When they looked at one another, the rest of the world fell away. She took in his words, her heart fluttering at recognizing the depth and weight of their meaning. Then, she met his gaze, giving him, not just a smile, but with it, hope. It was confirmation for them both. He would get ready and wait and then, she _would_ find him, the way he'd found his way into her heart that had forever been closed off to anything but science. She turned to walk toward her room on the other side of the floor, swaying her hips with the excitement of this realization and, more importantly, to leave him with one last glimmer of hope for a future.

Tom watched as Rachel slinked away from him down the hallway. Every part of him wanted to bring her back, to feel her closeness again, to show her he wasn't ready for her to leave and he never would be now, not after all they'd been through. The threat of the virus and the race to find the cure had thrown the two unlikely individuals together and now it seemed their worlds were forever entwined. She anchored him in this new world order. However, with Darien's death and his position, it wasn't time. It was too soon. Wasn't it? No, he couldn't do it… Not yet at least. Just not now. That didn't stop him from stealing one last longing glance at the doctor pacing from him with a deliberate and hopeful swing of her hips. She was the woman who had made him weak at the knees in that black dress and always in her jeans.

He entered his dark room, breathing deeply as he set down his cap on the dresser. With every step he took, he became more aware that she wasn't with him and even more aware that wasn't what he wanted. Even on the ship, she hadn't always been with him but he felt her presence. She was always there: in the lab when he needed to talk, always ready to give her opinion in the ward room, passing him with a smile in the hallway, eating with the leadership crew on the mess deck, bringing him tea he could barely stomach on deck at night but with it she brought herself, and that was more than enough. Now she was leaving and the thought made his heart ache.

He hadn't wanted to admit his feelings so soon after Darien's death on the ship. He hadn't even realized them himself. When they'd kissed, when they'd hugged, or just when he'd passed her in the hallway he had felt the undeniable pull between them. He thought it was just lust out of loneliness maybe. Then he had thought it must have been grief and he tried to protect himself. Yet when she'd killed Sorenson, he'd realized the true source of his anger. As a military man, he was furious. He demanded protocol and order on his ship as a means to survival. But as Tom Chandler, the man, his anger stemmed from much deeper depths - anger that she lied to him even if it was an attempt to keep blood off of his hands, anger that she had broken his trust, anger that he'd pushed her away directly toward Sorenson, anger that she made him want her by simply existing, and anger that he had to punish her when every fiber of his heart fought him on it. It was then his feelings became abundantly clear. He'd forgiven her well before, but it was the feelings he was trying to ignore that had kept her at arm's length in the past few weeks.

Yet, with Rachel leaving, he couldn't ignore the wanting feeling creeping into his heart for her now that she wouldn't be merely a few doors away. His resolve was wavering already and his head was warring with his heart to determine if he should finish what they'd started in the hallway... what they'd started with the hug they'd shared the night she found the cure... the night she'd kissed him with so with life depending passion on the Vyerni... or the night she'd told him the truth about her mission. Just one hug, one kiss goodbye... just so she'd know he had meant what he said. She needed to find him for good when she got back. Because she'd found her way into his heart; after tonight, he was sure of it.

Moving toward the bed, he tried, and failed, to distract himself. He turned on the lamp and set the letter down, deep in thought. Tom was about to take off his dress uniform when curiosity got the better of him. His eyes found the letter on the dresser and his hands followed suit. He looked at the curve of the letters she had written. His formal name, "Captain Chandler" written with such care across the envelope and a swooping, dainty line framed it beneath. His fingers brushed the script as if just the letters she'd written held a piece of her. Tom had never been this sentimental. But after losing Darien, after seeing how quickly life could change, he didn't want to waste a single moment. He willingly gave in. Resolving himself to read her letter and then, no matter what, he would find her before she left.

His fingers slid under the envelope to open it. He pulled out the epidemiological models Rachel had prepared for the president but it was the small white note folded neatly inside that caught his attention. He found his name, "Tom," written in cursive on the outside of the small white paper. The paper reminded him of her. Small and dainty but hiding a wealth of information and mystery within. His stomach clenched with nerves and excitement as he opened the intimate note meant just for him.

xxxxx

Meanwhile...

The ceiling blearily came into view. Reason slowly began making its appearance in her brain as breath came back into her chest. However, it was the shaking shock and fiery pain in her shoulder brought her back to reality all too quickly. How could she have been so blind? To think she was actually _happy_ she didn't have guards anymore.

She was so close to Tom's room. He was there; only a few steps away. Could she make it? She thought as she tried and failed to turn her head to look around the corridor. But her vision blurred and the pain in her shoulder became even more excruciating. She pulled up her knees, partly because the pain couldn't let her stay still and partly to see if she had the energy to push herself to find help. But with one pushing stretch of her legs, a pain shot through her body causing a high-pitched gasping cry to escape her lips.

Rachel knew there was no way she could move herself. The only hope she had was that someone, anyone, would find her. She thought about screaming but if the shooter was still around, he would surely come to finish the job he had started. She felt her strength waning but forced herself to keep pressure on the wound. She tried to ignore the nausea and dizziness that overtook her as she pushed her shoulder hard into the ground, trying to stop the blood pulsing out of both the entry and exit wounds.

She tried her best to keep her eyes open and prayed someone heard the shot... that _he_ heard the shot. She just wished she would have stayed...

They both had sensed they weren't ready, or so she thought. She could tell he hadn't wanted her to leave but she knew she had to leave it up to him, to give him time to grieve and to see if he'd completely forgiven her. Even though, so much of her had stood there wanting him to reach out and enfold her in his arms the way he had before... To grasp him tightly as he molded her to his body, intimately bending his head into her so she felt his hot breath and lips brush against her neck once more.

She felt a chill run through her body as the pain surged once again through her chest. Though she was never one to cry, tears began to sting her eyes from the fear and pain that began to overwhelm her as she was slowly slipping into shock. She realized the chances someone would make it in time were slim to none. She'd been hurt before, shot even, but never like this. She tried to tell herself it wasn't that bad. She had saved the world, doing what no one else could. But it couldn't be her time yet, she thought. No situation gave you more time to reflect than when it could be too late. She still had so much more to do. More people to save, more time to spend with the people who had recently become not just friends but family, loved ones. More time with a man she would give her life for willingly... and that just might be what she did.

She continued to fight the urge to give into the weakness that was slowly overtaking her, using all her strength to staunch the blood and pray harder than she ever had that she would get the chance to continue the work she had devoted her life to and to get the chance to go back to the family she had discovered over the past months... to the people, the place, and the man with whom, for the first time in her life, she felt home.

xxxxx

" _Dear Tom_ ," the letter began. He smiled as he heard her voice speaking every word. " _I need you to know..._ " he started to read the curving letters but stopped short.

A loud popping boom broke his focus instantly. Captain Thomas Chandler would recognize that deadly sound anywhere. Within a millisecond he had lunged from his seated position on the bed, retrieved his firearm from his nightstand drawer and prepared to face whatever lay beyond the other side of the door.

He emerged stealthily from his room, sweeping the hallway with his eyes and extended handgun. The shot had sounded far too close, he knew whatever damage it had inflicted must be near, just like the shooter. Tom was about to begin a thorough sweep of his side of the large third floor when the stairwell door was flung open.

His gun was as quickly lowered as it had been raised at the gun-toting figure emerging through the door when he recognized Danny with Halsey following at his heels.

"Captain," the Lieutenant began, lowering his gun at the recognition of his senior officer. "You heard it too?"

"Yes, it sounded close enough to be on this floor," Tom answered as the two men moved in tandem down the hallway.

Danny answered with a whisper, "Halsey was going crazy so I was bringing him up to the room. Then we heard it from the stairwell."

"Then if the shooter _was_ on this floor, their either still here or took the south stairwell since you didn't see them. We'll sweep this floor then split up," Tom directed.

The two men and expertly trained canine moved against the wall as they came to the corner of the hallway. With his hands, Tom signaled that he would clear the hallway before they exposed themselves. He emerged around the corner with his gun trained toward any possible threat. His eyes followed the barrel of his handgun to take in the view but it quickly dropped down to his side as the vision registered in his mind, it was Rachel. He recognized her laying on the floor and immediately knew something was wrong.

"Rachel?" he asked in shock and panic.

"Oh God," Danny whispered behind him, as he finally saw what the Captain's eyes were glued to.

"Rachel!" Tom continued to scream as adrenaline allowed his feet to fly him down the hallway with superhuman speed. He dropped to the ground beside her mid-run, his knees hitting the floor with a painful thud but he felt nothing. He set his firearm on the floor carefully and moved to lean closer to the nearly unconscious doctor. His heart was racing and his stomach began knotting violently as realization dawned on him. He saw the crimson blood covering the black lace of her dress and her delicate hands, her dimming eyes and the translucent white pallor of her face. "Rachel? Rachel?" he spoke frantically as his now shaking hands reached for her – one on her face and one hovering over her own blood-covered hand, scared to touch her and inflict more pain.

Danny was immediately behind his Captain with Halsey at his heels. "She's been shot," Tom said, his words dripping with unbelief. "Get Doc Rios, now!" Tom shouted the order but Danny was already halfway back down the hallway, his Navy Seal training taking over. "And secure the building! No one leaves!" he yelled after the man.

He immediately turned his attention back to his main priority. "Rachel?" he breathed.

"To.." she tried weakly. His touch and screaming had made her pull herself out the weakness overwhelming her. "Tom?" she breathed more fully, hopefully and needfully as she realized her help was finally here. Her eyes focused intensely on him, studying his face

"Hey..." he whispered as happily as the situation would allow, hopeful that she was cognizant enough to recognize him. "I'm here." She managed a small smile at his words, her prayers had been answered but she hoped it wasn't too late.

"You found me," thankfulness and hope overpowered the pain in her voice.

"Of course I did," Tom answered without missing a beat, eliciting a small but powerful smile from her lips.

"Pressure, keep pressure on the wound," the doctor in her said with labored breathing as she saw his hand hovering over her own.

He pressed his hand firmly but gently onto her own which covered the wound. She couldn't help the pained cry that fell over her lips from the sting it brought. His heart clenching at the sound of her in pain.

"Immunes," she tried to speak, knowing he needed to know in case she didn't make it. She wanted to continue, to tell him it was the man in the crowd but Tom could see how much pain the effort was causing. He nodded with understanding, cutting her off.

"We'll get them, Rach. Don't you worry," he said, directed as much to himself as it was to her. His hand swept gently over her hair as he saw the sweat beads forming on her face.

Another surge of pain swept through her, causing her breath to catch in her throat. Tom could see the agony on her face and he knew she was fading. He couldn't let that happen, especially now. He wouldn't let the virus and it's aftermath take away anymore from him.

"Rios and Mullowsky are on their way. I just need you to hold on, okay?" he spoke trying to reassure her, but he couldn't hide the pleading in his voice.

She tried to nod as she spoke, "You know how stubborn I am." She gave a small grin, her eyes never leaving his as they were both brought back to when it was her turn to save him in the medbay.

"I'm counting on that," he echoed her earlier words to him with a nod, his heart surging that she was still awake and aware enough to even make a joke. She managed a weak chuckle before her face contorted from the pain it brought and it turned into a painful cough that overtook her. He could see she was trying to hide it, trying to be strong as always. But he could see the pain wash across her face with every labored breath she took. He looked around the hallway, still uneasy about the far too open surroundings. Where was Danny? He thought impatiently. He knew it would hurt her but he had to secure her, not knowing what threats still remained.

"Rachel," he began, "Rachel, I'm sorry but I have to move you. I can't risk keeping you here in case they come back." Dread came over her face but she knew he was right. She feared the inevitable pain that was to come but she trusted him with her life and she would do anything for him. She nodded as she closed her eyes, bracing for the increase in pain that would certainly come.

He reached for her room key that was resting only a few feet from her on the floor and placed it in his right hand, looking around once more for an impending threat. He looked down at her again, his heart constricting as he saw the pain evident on her delicate features. He couldn't lose her, and he promised himself he wouldn't. Resolve overwhelming him, he moved to pick her up as gently as he could.

"Come here," he said as his arms scooped underneath her tiny frame. His left arm rested under her knees and brought them to him. His right arm scooped as gently as he could under her shoulders, placing pressure on the exit wound on her back. Her left arm slowly made its way around his neck but her grip was weak and almost nonexistent.

"I've got you, I've got you." he whispered reassuringly, feeling her body tense at the rush of pain as he stood up, her body adjusting in his arms. Her face was buried in his shoulder as her long hair fell down his back. His heart broke as the labored gasps and pained whimpers escaped her lips she tried to suppress into his neck. The pain was becoming unbearable so she tightened her left arm around his neck with as much strength as she could muster, holding him as though her life depended on it; because tonight, it did.

He felt the icy coolness of her skin against his neck while the sticky blood slowly but steadily pulsated beneath his fingers on her back. Tom knew that she was fading so he tried everything he could to keep her with him until help came. "Almost there. You just stay with me, okay?" he continued, trying to keep her awake and aware.

"Tom?" she began, her weakest word to him yet. "I..." she tried to continue telling him something but she was getting weaker by the second; the pain of being moved overwhelming her and her blood loss was finally catching up to her.

"Don't try to talk," he murmured as he moved to open the door of the room. "You can tell me all about it when you're better," he prodded, attempting to keep her focused on staying alive. He felt her nod her head in his neck but her breathing was becoming more and more labored.

He moved with her as quickly but as gently as he could toward the bed in the center of the room. Tom could feel her body weakening as her arm began to loosen its grip on him and her head lulled out of its safe place in the crook of his neck. Not now, he thought. "Rachel, come on," he encouraged frantically, but as he looked down, her eyes were dangerously close to closing. He prayed Danny brought Rios and Mullowsky in time. They'd lost too much already. But if he lost her... it wasn't a thought he could bear to entertain.

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 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review! I'll try to update soon :)**


	2. Another Race for Another Cure

_Hello lovelies! Thank you for all the sweet reviews, favorites, and follows. It means so much that you enjoy the story and I hope you continue to do so. Thank you again to my perfect Tomchel family who I could not function without. Thank you especially to Ana for being the Tomchel master, my fic brainstormer and editor, and for just keeping me sane._

 _I hope you all enjoy this next installment. I will be working furiously on chapter 3 for you. Please don't forget to review and share your thoughts! :)_

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 **Another Race for Another Cure**

 **CHAPTER 2**

" _ **But it's not safe and I can feel him slipping away, so I just get out one more sentence. "Stay with me." As the tendrils of sleep syrup pull me down, I hear him whisper a word back but I don't catch it." - Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire**_

She was lying limp in his arms; a doll with no structure. Her dark eyes were closed and her arm had flopped carelessly behind him. He moved even faster to her bed, lying her down as gently as he could on the crisp white sheets and pillows, trying to keep her shoulder elevated to stop the bleeding.

"Rachel? Rachel?" he uttered frantically into her blank face as his hand gently grasped her hip to get her attention. Her eyes fluttered briefly and remained half open. "Stay with me okay?" he breathed as he rushed first to secure the door with its lock. Tom then rushed to grab the still neatly stacked towels from the bathroom counter as he simultaneously stripped off his constricting military jacket, revealing his already blood-stained white dress shirt.

He moved swiftly back to the bed, white towels in hand, already becoming stained from the blood on his hands. "Where are they?" he muttered to himself, impatiently expecting the arrival of two-thirds of the ship's medical team any moment.

He perched himself on the bed beside her, the movement jolting Rachel out of her temporary unconsciousness and eliciting a groan as her eyes fluttered fully open again. "Tom..." she breathed with uncertainty, reason threatening to leave her as she tried to remember where she was.

Tom could see she was slipping and didn't waste any time. He pulled her right shoulder up carefully and placed the towel on the wound as he laid her back down gently, adjusting the pillow under her head more securely. He tried not to let her heart-wrenching cries of pain affect his purposeful concentration. He then placed another towel on the entry wound, applying as much pressure as possible as he pushed her shoulder into the bed. A gasp escaped Rachel's lips as her eyes opened wider with shock and agony at the sensation. "I'm sorry, I know..." Tom explained with gentle understanding. Her eyes were dangerously close to closing again as she gave in to the pain. "Rachel," he continued forcefully to keep her with him. "You've got to focus on me. I need you to be stubborn," he said with a smirk. "Stay awake, just a little while longer and before you know it, you'll be drinking that awful tea or green or whatever again. Okay?"

"Okay," she mouthed with a nod of her head; yet no sound but jagged breath coming out of her mouth.

"Do you remember when we found Bertrise?" he questioned, trying to keep her mind alert while attempting to keep her focus on something _other_ than the burning ache in her shoulder before help arrived. "Remember the breakthrough you had?"

Rachel ventured a tiny but radiant smile as she attempted another nod. "She was immune. She helped ..." Rachel began weakly.

"She helped you find the very first vaccine," Tom finished for her, wanting her to be awake but to save her energy.

"Do you remember when you came to the Vyerni?" he ventured, a smirk toying at his lips despite his fear of her fate. "You were so brave. Mike told me you didn't even hesitate to volunteer yourself. That's why I know you're going to get through this," he encouraged her before continuing. Her eyes were still open and she was focused intently but weakly on him. "He also still teases me mercilessly about that kiss," eliciting a single chuckle from Rachel. "Tex wouldn't shut up about it, you know. He insisted you could have passed the message to him just as easily,"

Rachel tried to shake her head from side to side as she mouthed the words, "No way," she breathed. "He..." she took a breath, trying to muster the energy to keep talking. "Big mouth," was all she could get out. All Tom could do was nod as he chuckled at her.

"Then you found it though," he whispered. "Remember?" awe still present in his voice as he remembered that night, the night she'd saved the world. She smiled weakly but powerfully up at him, remembering the proudest and most freeing moment of her life. It was the night her entire life had prepared her for, the task she was born for, and he was there to hold her as the joy and weight of what she had done... what _they_ had done overwhelmed them both so much that they'd needed the other just to stand.

"The cure," she whispered.

"That's right," he answered immediately. "And you're not done, you know that?" he continued, tears welling in his eyes. "You have too much to do to leave us now, Doctor. Kara needs you to bring that baby into the world too. We still need you to make more of the cure. You're not done saving the world, do you hear me? We're not finished," he ended in a commanding but gentle tone, the double meaning of his final words not lost on either of them as the tears nearly flooded his eyes but still not brimming over.

"I..." she began, but her strength was wavering and they were disrupted by the pounding that had just begun on the door.

Tom rushed to the hotel door, verifying only the crew was outside before ushering Doc Rios in. Danny, Burke, Miller, Wolf, Mike, Tex, and Kara all stood in the doorway, their chests moving up and down in tandem from rushing to the emergency.

Slattery took command immediately. "Tex, guard the door. Danny and Burke secure the president immediately. If the shooter is still in this building, he could be the next target. Miller and Wolf you bring me the person who did this," he finished forcefully. Kara was already following Doc Rios and the Captain to assist the men with Rachel.

"She's been shot. It looks like it went straight through," Tom exclaimed as he followed Rios to the bed. "I tried to stop the bleeding..." he trailed off.

"Dr. Scott? Dr. Scott, can you hear me?" Rios said as he moved to the right side of the bed and began to assess Rachel's situation. His medical bag was open on the bed within seconds, scissors and a pack of quick clot were in his hands next. He took the blood-stained towel off of her shoulder.

"Lieutenant Foster, I need wet towels now," Rios commanded to Kara who moved immediately toward the bathroom.

"Sir, I'll need you to hold her up," Rios instructed as he began to pull Rachel's shoulder up. Tom jumped into action on Rachel's left. His right hand effortlessly supported her head and neck, bringing it toward his chest so Rios could have a better view of the wound. His left arm had wrapped around her waist to hold her more securely.

Rios moved to cut the dress off of Rachel's shoulder, ripping the fabric to expose both wounds but not the rest of her. A fearful faced Kara appeared with the damp washcloths and handed them to the doctor. He wiped and washed the wound as quickly as he could to assess the full damage under the already dried blood. Rachel inhaled sharply as the water stung the wound even more painfully than before.

Tom held Rachel steadily as the doctor ripped open the quick clot package, pouring the gritty contents across the bloody hole in her back to staunch the bleeding. The moment the chemicals hit her back, Rachel jerked in pain and breathed in a gasp in against Tom's shoulder. Chandler couldn't take the pain away but could only hold her tighter.

The doctor quickly secured gauze to the second wound so he could now address the first. "Okay, lie her down," Rios instructed. Tom gently let Rachel back down on the bed, noticing how much whiter her face was becoming. They were running out of time and he knew it. However, Rios only noticed how resistant the Captain's hands were to leave the injured woman.

He moved to clean the entry wound and repeat the process once more, clotting the wound to stop the blood. Kara, still leaning against the bed beside Rios, became nauseous as she watched Dr. Scott's hands weakly grasp at the sheets beneath her in pain before becoming completely limp. She looked up at the doctor's face and saw she had slipped into unconsciousness.

"She's in shock," Rios said with urgency, the last words Tom wanted to hear. "Grab a blanket," he told Kara but Slattery, still standing by, had beat her to it. They draped the warm fabric over her together as Rios continued speaking. "She needs blood immediately," Rios explained, pulling the Captain, Kara, and the rest of the crew out of their frantic thoughts. "The bullet went straight through but she's lost too much blood and she'll still need surgery. The shot must have been close and it did too much damage. We need to get her into operation and fast."

"Then we can't keep her here. Where is Mullowsky?" Tom demanded.

"He went to find help. The makeshift hospital is still in operation on the main floor. We have access to stretchers, IVs, blood, and supplies until we can stabilize her for the move to the fully functioning hospital down the road."

Tom nodded, remembering the mayor of the city explaining the various hospital stations that had been set up throughout the community with the outbreak of the virus. There was one on the main floor that had taken over some of the hotel ballrooms. It was one reason why they had chosen this hotel above all of the others. In the world before the virus, the President always would have had a doctor on standby. This option was the closest thing to it. That thought reminded Tom of his next priority aside from Rachel and finding her shooter.

"The president needs to be secured immediately," Tom instructed his right hand officer as he moved away from the bed reluctantly. "It was the Immunes, Ramsey's men. He needs to be protected at all costs." Slattery nodded.

"Already on it, sir. Danny and Burke have strict instructions to secure him," Mike answered, Tom not at all surprised his second in command already had it covered. "We'll get him," Mike promised, knowing his commander and best friend needed to hear it, his mouth tight with determination and fire in his eyes. He was always ready for a fight; but this time, it was more than personal. He had doubted Rachel at the beginning of their mission, constantly questioning Tom's unwavering faith in her. However, as time wore on, Mike realized how integral Rachel was to their mission. It was when she had been brave enough to sacrifice herself for Chandler and Tex that Mike knew this woman was braver and better than most four-star generals he knew. She had become a part of their family, and after losing his own, he wouldn't let her or anyone else be taken from them.

That instant, Tex ushered Mullowsky and a nurse through the hotel room door, rolling a stretcher between them. Tex could no longer stay in the doorway, moving to the bed to watch over Rachel.

"The staff in the hospital downstairs is prepping the operating area now," Mullowsky jumped in as he wheeled the stretcher over, followed by one of the nurses from the makeshift hospital. "We have access to everything we will need there to stabilize her and I have a blood transfusion ready to go in case we need it."

"We will," Rios answered without missing a beat. "She's in shock. We don't have long," he explained quickly as he helped Mullowsky move the stretcher beside the bed.

"Come on, Rachel," Tom prodded to the unconscious doctor under his breath, the gravity of the situation hitting him once again.

"Let's get her up. But be careful," Rios instructed. Mullowsky stepped in on Rios' side to help pick up the unconscious Rachel, Tom and Mike reached for her other side. Kara wanted to be helpful so she grabbed Rachel's feet as she was transferred to the stretcher.

Tom's breath caught in his throat as he saw the huge red spot on the once purely white bed. He stood frozen as he watched an unconscious Rachel slipping away and fighting for her life. She was in shock and it might be too late. The situation had finally caught up to him and for the first time in his life of purpose, mission, and certainty, Tom Chandler had no idea what to do.

"Sir?" Kara asked gently, emotion allowing her to ignore protocol completely as she placed a hand on his elbow. "Sir?"

Chandler snapped out of his momentary trance, locking eyes with the junior officer who merely nodded with a supportive smile. He nodded, a way to thank her for bringing him out of imagining the worst, and jumped back into action.

Rachel has been secured on the stretcher as it was moved through the room and into the hallway. Tex lead the way with Slattery bringing up the rear, guns trained in front of them for any signs of danger. Rios, Mullowsky and Beth, the nurse, kept their hands on the stretcher as they ran with it toward the elevator. Kara and the Captain ran beside the stretcher by Rachel's head.

The ten-second elevator ride felt like ten-minutes to Tom. Rachel was now ten seconds further away from life. He prayed it wouldn't be the ten seconds that took her away from them for good.

The doors dinged as they spread open and the team rushed Rachel toward the medical area. They rushed past nearly a hundred beds, full of the once infected and now cured, completely on their way to recovery - all because of the woman fighting for her life on this stretcher being shuffled past them.

Two nurses and another doctor were waiting by the door of the makeshift operating room and ushered Rachel in. Tex and Slattery took their guard posts outside of the room while Tom and Kara entered the room with the stretcher.

"Move her to the table! I need a blood transfusion now! Get an oxygen mask on her! Check her heart rate, now! She's still in shock!" Doc Rios barked orders at the hospital staff as the stretcher was brought by the operating table. The medical team lifted Rachel up as if she weighed no more than a leaf and placed her gently on the table. They followed Rios' instructions as fast as possible while Tom and Kara stood by helplessly. She knew she shouldn't have gone in but she'd seen the Captain's face when he'd watched Rachel during the ordeal, his eyes had never left her. The intensity and passion they held was a look she knew couldn't be rivaled. She'd seen the blood staining his shirt and hands and knew he'd need someone right now. She looked up at him once more and saw the worry, concern, the utter agony written all over his face.

She'd recognized that look. She had seen if before, on her own face. The day Danny had collapsed in the crew lounge, the day she thought he had the virus and had infected the ship. But more importantly, the day she thought she would lose him. It was then that she finally understood. She finally understood the glances, the tension, the talks she'd witnessed between the ships two leaders. They needed each other. The way she needed Danny. Her heart broke thinking of the possible outcome. The crew had each lost so much. They couldn't bear this too. She was about to try to get the Captain out of the operating room to give the doctors and nurses more room and to spare him any more pain but her thoughts were interrupted by a deadly beeping sound.

"She's coding!" Mullowsky yelled as the heart monitor flat-lined.

"No," Kara mouthed the words as a prayer.

Tom's knees buckled slightly as he whispered, "Oh God, Rachel..."

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 **Thank you for reading! Please leave a review! I will be working on chapter 3 for you all! XO**


	3. Similarities

_Hello my lovely readers! Thank you to everyone who has read, followed, and favorited this story and is sticking with it. Well, I didn't want to leave you on that cliffhanger for too long so here is a mid-week, hump day treat to get you through the weekend! ;)_

 _Thank you to my amazing, and growing, Tomchel family who I love SO much! A MILLION thank yous to the incredible, intelligent, and creative Ana who has stayed up many a night to let me brainstorm all these ideas and for helping me when my writer's block kept me, well… blocked. This is all because of you my dear :)_

 _Well all, enjoy! Please leave a review to let me know what you'd like to see next!_

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 **Similarities**

 **CHAPTER 3**

" _ **The course of true love never did run smooth."**_

 _ **\- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream**_

Within a second of the beeping beginning, his heart was dropping, his knees were buckling, and his head was spinning as his lungs lunged out of his chest for air. Tom lunged forward with them, toward the bed, toward the doctors, and ultimately toward Rachel.

"Rachel!" he yelled, protocol, leadership, and composure thrown away long ago.

"Sir!" the blonde nurse tried to hold him back. "Sir, you can't!"

Kara was snapped out of her momentary shock and jumped into action. "Captain!" she commanded, but her words were dripping with pity, sympathy, and gentleness as she reached for Tom's arm to pull him toward the door.

"Sir, you can't be in here!" The nurse continued stepping in between the desperate man and Rachel, worried she night not be able to hold back his strong frame if he moved further.

The rest of the medical staff was oblivious to the commotion as they rolled the defibrillator beside their patient in a race against time to bring her heart back to life. But Mullowsky saw the Captain's frantic face glancing helplessly at Rachel and decided to step in. The leader's normally composed and resilient face was full of fear. Frankly, it scared him to see the Captain looking so lost. He needed to get this man out of the operating room in case the worst happened.

Mullowsky stepped forward, placing a firm hand on Tom's chest to bring him out of his shocked state. "Captain. Captain?" He said more firmly, Tom's eyes snapping out of their daze as he finally brought his gaze back from Rachel to the man in front of him. "You shouldn't be in here," the doctor said, but it was a pitying tone, not a directive.

He escorted a reluctant Tom and Kara to the door with hurried but reassuring words. "Sir, we'll alert you as soon as the situation is under control and we have an update ," the doctor explained. "But, you really shouldn't be in here."

"You do everything you can for her," Tom commanded, his eyes blazing. But his eyes weren't focused on the doctor pushing him out with door with Kara's gentle help anymore. He looked straight past them, his eyes glued to Rachel, lying on the operating table connected to the flat-lining heart monitor as the doctors moved the defibrillators to her chest.

The last thing he saw before the door closed in his face was Rachel, looking tiny, limp, pale, and utterly helpless; her bloody chest rising and falling back onto the operating table with a jerking thud as one of the doctors yelled "Clear!" and they attempted to shock her heart back to life. That image would haunt his mind for as long as he lived.

"Rachel!" he screamed once more, a desperate and broken plea for her to stay, alerting the rest of the hospital patients and staff in the large room to the dire situation unfolding on the other side of the door.

And then the door slammed shut. Leaving him helpless and feeling utterly alone despite the group of friends now surrounding him.

"What's going on?" Slattery insisted, snapping Tom back to them.

"She coded," Tom breathed in disbelief, his eyes still blankly staring at the door as if was trying to see Rachel through it.

"Oh God," Tex uttered, his heart dropping. He put a fatherly hand on Kara's shoulder as he saw her tearful face.

"She'll come back," Mike said. "And she'll be fine," trying to will it to be true for all of them.

"She has to," Kara whispered.

Tex buried his fear and did what he always did, encouraged and joked. "She's a tough one, she'll make it. She's too stubborn to let anything beat her, remember?" he winked at Kara. A silent and distracted Tom prayed he was right while he marveled at the faith Tex had.

"You should sit down," Tex said to Kara as he moved her to a nearby chair, her tearful face pale from the situation. He was trying to ignore the pain stabbing his heart at the realization that Rachel may not make it.

Sure, he loved her but not the way he had once thought he could. She'd always have a special place in his heart but he'd realized pursuing her heart was going nowhere because she'd already held it for someone else. But she was one of his closest friends and if he lost her, he knew his heart would break harder than most. And the crew might never recover. Rachel, along with Tom, was their symbol of hope when their worlds were turned upside down. If they lost her, even with the good that had happened, their spirits could be broken completely.

Mike watched Tex walk the female lieutenant to the chair and moved to his commander and best friend. "How are you holding up?" Slattery asked his Captain. "I know you found her..."

Chandler couldn't answer the first question. He didn't know how. He couldn't find the words to express what he was feeling other than he knew he left part of his heart on the other side of that door and was waiting to find out if he would ever get it back. "She was just lying there in the hallway... shot," Tom began, the image far too real in his mind. "It's a miracle Greene and I found her when we did, she had already lost so much blood," he stopped his mind's train of thought before it got to a place he never wanted to go. "Have they found the shooter?" he asked, blood boiling as he thought of the individual who had dared to tear the family of the Nathan James apart.

"Not yet," Mike matched the anger in his eyes. "We have two teams resweeping the building but it looks like he, or she, escaped out of an emergency exit already. They're doing all they can in the city too though. Another team is sweeping the surrounding areas. We'll get him," he finished, determination in his voice as the former homicide detective in him came out.

Tom nodded. Like Mike, he wouldn't take defeat as an answer. They would find the sick individual who did this and they would pay. "And the President?" the Captain asked.

"He's secure and has been alerted to the situation. He wants to see you to assess the threat and brief a plan since it seems like the Immunes are not completely eliminated," Mike said.

"I'm not leaving Dr. Scott," Tom responded immediately.

"Of course not," Slattery acknowledged. "He's already been told as much."

"Good," Tom answered, his eyes still wandering toward the door.

"I'll keep you posted on any developments with the shooter," Mike told him, knowing Tom's mind was only on one thing.

"Thanks," he responded absentmindedly.

"And Tom," Mike continued in a softer tone.

"Hmmm?" he replied, eyes and mind still somewhere else.

"She'll make it," Slattery assured him. "Who else is going to stare you down and argue with you all the time? " he added with a smirk.

Tom looked at his best friend now. What he wouldn't give to have one last heated argument with Rachel, her passion furious and determination in her eyes as he challenged her. He nodded, "Thanks, Mike."

Chandler couldn't talk anymore. His lack of control in the situation and being forced to wait rather than help and act was completely against his nature. But there was nothing he could do. Nothing to do but wait and pray.

He felt cramped, suffocated by the bright lights, his friends, and the weight of not knowing. He moved to the secluded wall, the operating room door still clearly in his vision but keeping himself away from everyone's sympathetic glances and having to watch the recently cured alive and well in their hospital beds while, their savior, Rachel Scott was fighting for her own.

Tom was pacing, walking back and forth along the wall at the back of the large ballroom turned hospital wing, fidgeting with his still bloody hands in anticipation. An hour passed, feeling like half a century to him, but no news was good news he supposed. Still, he couldn't pace in impatience any longer.

He fell against the wall, his face in his hands as he slid to a seated position on the floor. His elbows rested on his knees and his forehead rested in his hands as he looked down to see Rachel's blood covering his once brilliantly white shirt, causing his breath to catch in his throat. He prayed fervently that wasn't all he would have left of her.

He played that night over and over again in his head; blaming himself for Rachel's fate more and more each time. If only he hadn't let her walk away from him so soon and kept her with him a moment longer. If he had given her more hope. A hug maybe. Or maybe just begged her to stay. Or if he had only summoned the courage to talk to her at the inaugural ball instead of sneaking glances at her across the room the entire night, catching her eyes each time with their signature look. If only he had done something else, this night might have ended much differently and she might not have planned to leave after all. If only he'd told her how thankful he was that she had saved him that day. How waking up to her looking over him, if even in the medbay, felt more right than it should have. If only he had told her he'd forgiven her directly. That hurting her was the last thing he could have wanted and he only wanted to fix it. That more than anything he was just happy they found the cure and that she was okay. That he'd always planned to asked the President to pardon her anyway. He hoped he'd get a chance to tell her that.

His head was buried in his hands, ignoring the sounds, the nurses and doctors walking past him, his friends across the room, only looking up every five minutes to see if anyone had emerged out of the operating room door with news on Rachel. Another hour passed, and Tom could barely stand to wait any longer. Before he could convince himself to get up and demand an update, a welcome distraction walked in his path.

"It's so funny how similar you are," Tex began as he walked up, sitting on the wall beside Tom.

"What?" the Captain asked, confused.

"You and the doctor," Tex answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tom only looked at him in utter confusion, not following. "You're exactly the same. You should have seen her worrying over you while she waited for you to wake up when we got back from the oil rig. Running around the hangar, barking orders and getting that shrapnel out of you. Barely paid attention to the bullet in my ass for worrying over you!" Tex laughed. Tom couldn't help the smile emerging on his face.

"I wouldn't be alive without her," Tom said soberly.

"She could say the same for you after tonight," he said pointedly. "She's going to be okay, you know," Tex said, sitting on the wall beside Tom.

"How can you be so sure?" Tom asked, he was getting so accustomed to losing people that hope was hard to come by for him right now.

"There are two things I know about Rachel Scott. One, she is more stubborn than any person I know, present company excluded," he paused to give Tom a smirk, receiving a roll of the eyes. "She's dedicated, she's strong and she's ruthless when she needs to be. She's not going down without a fight, you can be sure of that," he looked at the Captain, truth in his eyes. "You know what she always said when she was working on the cure? The biggest breakthroughs always come-"

"After the most enormous setbacks," Tom finished for him, Rachel's voice saying them in his head as he remembered her trying fervently to find a cure in the lab, begging him to believe in her the way he needed to now.

"Exactly," Tex nodded. "We've got to believe the same woman who was willing to face hundreds of Russians to save us, can handle a this. It's just a setback. She has so much more to do. Which leads me to the next thing I know about her, she's going to fight because she has a reason to live now," he nodded toward Tom. Chandler looked at the man beside him, still struggling to believe those words but hoping Tex was right. "She was an outsider on your ship. She fought to earn your trust and the trust of all of us while we put our lives, our future in her hands. And you know what? She did it. She didn't let us down. Even after... After she killed Sorenson, she didn't stop fighting. No matter her punishment. Because we're her family now, and I'm pretty sure that's something she's never had. Don't you know that's why she did it? She saw how that man ruined the lives of everyone on that ship, everyone in the world. She was trying to save us like she always has. She didn't stop to think about the consequences of her actions because she didn't care. She was thinking about us. Her reason to live isn't just the cure, it's us. It's her family. She was brave enough for all of that. Don't you think she can survive this?"

"Of course I do," Tom said, hope filling him as he let the meaning of Tex's words sink in. He hadn't realized just how deep Rachel's actions truly went. He knew how much the crew supported her, loved her. He wasn't exaggerating when he'd said she'd get 204 character references. They would all fight for her, especially him. He knew she was brave enough and strong enough to fight, he just hoped it was enough.

"I was with her just before, you know" Tom continued, dripping with guilt as he played the scene back through in his mind. He would never forgive himself for not keeping her with him just a minute longer, or more. For not walking her to her room at least. "She was just so happy not to have guards anymore," he said.

Tex laughed, "Boy, did she hate those."

"But they were for her protection too," he tried to argue. "If they'd just stayed with her one more day. She was leaving tomorrow after all. She was going to spread the cure for the President."

"So she came to tell you goodbye," Tex finished for him, nodding with a knowing look as he remembered a distant conversation about goodbyes.

"More of a see you later," Tom said, unwilling to accept she'd be gone from them forever, in any capacity. "If I'd just walked back with her," Tom began, guilt overwhelming her again. "If I'd just..."

Tex cut him off immediately. Knowing the pain guilt could inflict upon a person from his own experience. "The guilt you have right now? It's exactly how she was worried about you when we went off ship. You should have seen her, staring off in the distance and fretting for wishing she'd told you she was sorry about killing the scientist. Because she was, you know. She _is_ ," he added with emphasis to show she was still with them.

"I should have told her I had forgiven her..." Tom trailed off.

"Like I told her, you'll get your chance," Tex winked. He got up then, telling Tom he needed some coffee now that the alcohol from the party was wearing off. He left to get them both a cup, leaving Tom alone with his thoughts.

Tom sat with his head in his hands once again, his mind swimming with thoughts of their last conversation. She'd wanted to say something and so had he. But as usual, so much had been left unspoken between their stubborn selves. He prayed he'd get the chance to set things right.

Suddenly, a burst of activity across the room pulled him out of his thoughts. Tom looked up to see the source of the commotion. Doc Rios had emerged from the operating room and was asking Slattery where the Captain was. Tom locked eyes with Slattery, his face blank and unreadable, as his second in command pointed the doctor in his direction.

Watching Rios walk toward him was the longest ten seconds Tom had ever experienced in his life. He jumped to his feet in anticipation but he wouldn't walk to meet the doctor. If the news was indeed the worst, he would avoid it at all costs. The doctor's head was down as he came toward him and Tom's heart immediately plummeted.

He looked at the posture of the doctor, a million possibilities ran through his mind at lightning speed. Was he just tired? Was he defeated? Was he full of dread because they had tried everything like he'd begged but she just hadn't made it?

The thought made his heart sink even further. He didn't want to imagine that possibility. She was a fighter. She was stubborn and immovable just like him. She was the pot and he was the kettle after all. She would never give up. Not if she could help it at least.

However, the way the doctor mopped toward him, Tom's heart was anything but hopeful. His mind began to try to imagine a world without Dr. Rachel Scott. His world without her. And suddenly, his already damaged heart was empty.

Rachel filled a void in his heart he hadn't known existed. Yet, it was a part of his heart he realized recently that he couldn't live without.

She hadn't replaced Darien at all. Yet, she filled a completely different part in his heart and one that he knew had the ever growing potential to be just as big. With Rachel, she filled a need, a desire, a hope and a want. But even more deeply, she filled an intellectual and personal hole that he hadn't realized he'd needed before he'd met her. She was his mirror in every way.

They were both stubborn, smart, strong, and burdened with a leadership only a few individuals in the history of the world have been cursed with. But through their unique situation and the struggles saving the world brought with it, their reliance and utter dependence on one another was formed and it would never truly go away after all they had been through. He didn't want it to either.

Living without her now, not just surviving but trying to save the world still, might seem useless if she wasn't there beside him. They were a team, two parts that formed one whole, and without one, the other was useless.

He remembered how she'd told him that once, not in so many words. She had said the mission would fail if they weren't working together and she was right. Only because of the two of them had the cure been found. However, the mission was far from over and he still needed her and she needed him. Now, he had slowly begun to realize, in more ways than one. They were only just getting started.

He looked up at the doctor, his chest heaving with worry and anticipation, his eyes bloodshot from the tears threatening to fall from his eyes in either heartbreaking defeat or unrivaled joy.

"Doctor?" Tom ventured impatiently, his voice cracking.

"We almost lost her in there. But, she's stabilized now."

Tom's heart burst with elated relief as his knees threatened to buckle under the weight of his joy.

"We always knew she was tough and she proved it tonight," Rios ventured a small but cautious smile.

"Thank you," Chandler said, his hand coming to rest on Rios' shoulder in a brotherly gesture where words failed him.

"Now, she's not out of the woods yet. Quite the contrary actually. She's still receiving her blood transfusion and we'll need to watch her carefully for any infection or lapse back into danger. She's still very weak. But I'm cautiously optimistic. If she's made it through this, I think she can handle anything. She's being moved to recovery now."

Tom nodded. "When can we see her?" He questioned, trying to hide his need to be with her by using the plural pronoun.

"She's still unconscious and really shouldn't have visitors right now," he began. "However, having one person at a time sit with her shouldn't be a problem. It often helps many patients recover more quickly." Before Tom could even ask, Rios read his mind by the eager look on his face. "I'll take you to her."

Tom followed Rios to the wing of hotel rooms that had been transformed into hospital rooms impatiently. His breathing quickening with every step he took in anticipation. He couldn't get to the room fast enough; to see for himself that she was alive and okay.

Rios got to the door first, opening it quietly as not to disturb the sleeping patient. Tom was right behind him, trying hard to contain his impatience at seeing her and knowing she'd pulled through. He still wouldn't believe it until he could see her himself, to hold her hand just to be sure she was still breathing.

He followed the doctor into the dimly lit room. Rios pulled back the curtain revealing a nurse leaning over a hospital bed. Tom peered to look over the man and through the nurse when suddenly the woman moved away from the patient, he could see her. He saw her long dark hair splayed across the white hospital sheets, her pale but still beautiful face was relaxed against the pillow, her eyes closed as she remained in her deep sleep, and her hospital gowned body was connected to so many wires and tubes Tom's stomach dropped at the sight but it was the steady rise and fall of her chest that made him smile. Then he heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor and couldn't imagine a sound he loved more in that moment.

The nurse had moved toward Rios, giving him a warning look that the patient shouldn't have visitors. But Rios shook his head, stopping her before she could protest the Captain's arrival. He gave her a knowing look as he nodded toward the man who was enamored with the patient in the bed. He stood there unable to move with tears of joy threatening to fall from his eyes. The nurse nodded at the doctor, suddenly moved.

Tom, oblivious to the silent conversation taking place behind him, moved toward Rachel's sleeping form gently. She looked so small and delicate in the bed that it seemed as if she might float away at any second. "You can sit with her for now if you'd like," Rios prompted, gesturing toward the chair beside the bed.

He gently slid the chair to the side of the bed, leaving at least two feet between himself and the bed to keep his leader-like demeanor, but his eyes betrayed him as they wouldn't leave her face. "When will she be awake?" Tom asked, his eyes never leaving her.

"It's hard to say," Rios responded softly. "The pain meds we have her on now are helping to keep her asleep but her body is still recovering from the trauma. It could be a few hours or a few days, honestly. We just have to wait and hope there are no complications." Tom nodded, his eyes moving back to Rachel's sleeping form. She was alive and that was what mattered. Waiting now was nothing to him. "I'll leave you now. I'll let Tex and Commander Slattery know the situation." Rios continued.

"Make sure Lieutenant Foster knows and gets some rest," Tom said with care, remembering how tired, physically and emotionally, the pregnant officer had looked but how she had stayed with Rachel and with him though it all. He knew she would need to know Rachel's condition because of how close they were and he was glad for that.

"Of course. Just press this button if you need me or one of the nurses or when you want to send someone else in," he said, beginning to wonder if that would actually happen.

Rios and the female nurse left the room quietly, leaving only an emotionally exhausted Tom and a sleeping Rachel. He pulled his chair closer to her, so close his knees his the side of the bed. Tom reached out softly and picked up Rachel's limp hand, holding it between his own. The warmth he felt there was a stark contrast to the deathly cold temperature he'd felt from her earlier. His heart soared once more.

"You did it, Rachel," he whispered, mirroring his words the first time he'd spoken her name, tears finally falling from his eyes as emotions overwhelmed him. He still wasn't sure what to make of it but he knew after tonight he could never be without Rachel Scott. Now, she just had to wake up so he could tell her.

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 _ **Hope you enjoyed it! You know I couldn't let that be the end - off to work on Chapter 4! SO PLEASE REVIEW :)**_


	4. Stay

_Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long! I've been so busy at work and I wanted to make sure this chapter was perfect. A huge thank you to my Tomchel family who I couldn't survive this wait until June 2016 without._

 _A MASSIVE thank you to my editor, voice of reason, and friend, the lovely Ana, for helping me flush out these ideas, curing my writer's block, and just generally keeping me sane. :)_

 _Please leave a review! They are a writer's fuel :)_

 _This is a long one so enjoy!_

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 **CHAPTER 4**

 **Stay**

" _ **Have you ever really held the hand of someone you love? Not just in passing, a loose link between you - but truly clasped, with the pulses of your wrists beating together and your fingers mapping the knuckles and nails like a cartographer learning a country by heart?" - Jodi Picoult, Salem Falls**_

He was leaning forward in the chair by her bedside, his arms gently resting on her bed. The exhaustion, physical and emotional, was finally catching up to him. Yet, he refused to be anywhere else but here. Her hand rested in his own. Over the past few hours, his chair had inched closer to her bed as he'd attempted to move closer to her. Tom rubbed his thumb over her palm in continuous circles, periodically squeezing her hand gently as if she might slip away from him again at any moment. And although she was out of surgery, the steady beeping of her heart monitor and drip-drip of her IV reminded him that she still could.

His eyes rested on her face. Her usually open eyes, always squinted in deep thought as her brilliant mind raced in circles, were closed. He wondered what was running through her mind now. Was she dreaming? Could she tell what was going on? Did she know he was with her, silently pleading with her to live?

How had it come to this? How did he get here? Holding vigil at the bedside of a woman he hadn't even known over a year ago. Once only a guest on his ship. A doctor who had once infuriated him with her lies; necessary lies under orders from his government, but lies nonetheless. The woman who had quickly become his other half in the mission to save the world that had been thrust upon him without warning or want. And somehow, he realized, he now couldn't imagine a life without Rachel Scott. His mind was racing, full of memories and moments. It was as though, if he kept her alive in his mind, he could keep her alive and with him now.

He wondered how it happened... _When_ it had happened. When had she become the first person he wanted to talk to when he had an idea for the mission? She was the person he was both frustrated but thrilled to argue with because he knew she wouldn't just agree with him the way everyone else did because of his position. She would challenge him and frustrate him; but, his plan would be better for it.

Why was he so willing to risk the life of 204 sailors to retrieve a Bengal tiger for her across the world if that's what she needed? Surely there were other scientists, other ways to find a cure from the beginning of the outbreak. He had no real reason to trust her. He'd told her as much. She'd lied to them all as their families became infected. He hadn't known her but still, he'd willingly risked his life and the lives of his men for her. He had put everything at risk without cause. Yes, it was to save the human race but it was still ultimately for her. And somehow, he'd do it again in a heartbeat, no matter the outcome. He knew he would do anything for her back then; the same way he would now.

When did he get excited about just running into her in the p-way?

Why did he feel the need to protect her any time Tex was around?

When had she become his source of comfort as they talked on the ship's deck drinking her awful tea late at night under the stars?

Why had her murder of Neils hurt him to the core? Not because of _what_ she'd done, but because of the pain he had been compelled to cause her with his punishment.

Why was it that she crept guiltily into his mind at the most inopportune moments? When he floated in the ocean with Tex, unsure if he would survive... she was there. So was his family, his wife, children, father, sister. But Rachel was there, just in the background but ever present. He'd pushed her image away as much as he could until she'd appeared right in front of him on the Russian ship and something inside him felt joy he was sure wasn't just relief that they might be saved. Somehow seeing her face before him, even in his concern over the danger she had put herself in, somehow he knew she was what he needed to see to help him. Maybe it was the hope of a vaccine. But he couldn't help but think for a brief moment as her lips pressed against his and urgency and fear gave way to a moment of fleeting and needful passion, maybe it was just her.

Rachel was there when he'd stormed Granderson's complex. So much was at stake. He'd been through so much already, knowing his wife was dead and his family was still at risk. But he kept seeing her face, pushing him onward to make things right again. To save the cure, to save the people, to save the world and to ultimately save her.

As his eyes were still locked on her sleeping face, he couldn't help but remember how he she'd inhabited his mind after he'd punished her for killing Niels. He would lay awake at night in his cabin, unable to sleep as he saw her face in his office that night he'd punished her, begging him as she said his name, tortured with the pain the scientist had caused her and the pain her decisions had inflicted. He saw the tears in her eyes as the look of hurt, betrayal, and guilt swept across her face, eyes pleading with him not to do what he had felt he had to. The brokenness on her face, what he had caused, it had haunted his mind for weeks.

She'd been there as he was fighting the sub. As he had wondered if the _James_ would survive, he saw her standing there on the flight deck, sun behind and glowing nearly as bright as her as she looked at him with pleading eyes, with so many words left unspoken. He knew he had to survive to set things right. And he had.

But with the quick arrival in St. Louis, the President's inauguration and Rachel's work underway, he somehow had become too busy to ever set things right between them. To tell her he had forgiven her. To tell her _he_ was the one who had insisted the President include Rachel in his pardon. To tell her he wanted it to be the way it had been between them before.

He was lost in thought, looking at her so deeply, so small and weak in the hospital bed as her chest rose and fell laboredly. He didn't know what to make of it, this pull she had on him. The idea of love tickled at the very edges of his mind but he didn't allow himself to go there. Not yet. But it didn't stop him from thinking of the way she had stood there before him only hours earlier, beautiful and smiling just for him. He prayed silently and fervently that she would be able to do that again. And this time, he promised himself that he wouldn't waste a moment.

Tom turned quickly as he noticed the door opening, still on edge and ready to protect Rachel at all costs. The nurse from before entered quietly, she met his gaze with a soft smile. "How is she?" she whispered as she approached the bed, analyzing the IV and heart monitor before reaching to check Rachel's vitals.

"Still sleeping," Tom said gently, his eyes not leaving the woman in the bed.

"You should try talking to her," Beth, the nurse, said encouragingly. "It will help her know someone is here. She may seem unconscious, but in all my years doing this, I know patients can understand more than we realize. So talk to her. Let her know you're here. It might help her wake up sooner too," she winked before making her way to the door. "Just press the button if you need anything," she finished.

"Thank you," Tom said with a genuine smile.

The nurse smiled once more with a nod of her head before exiting the room. Tom turned back to Rachel, squeezing her hand tighter once again.

"Rachel," he whispered, unsure of what to say. But as he looked at her face, he thought back to the moments they had shared. The ones that kept playing over in his mind as he watched her face. He needed her to wake up, to bring her back to all those 204 sailors who had put their faith, their lives in her hands. To bring her back to the world that had been saved because of her brilliance, bravery, and stubbornness. To bring her back to him. They had only just begun... whatever _this_ was. They weren't done yet. They couldn't be. So why not remind her of all the reasons she should stay?

So he started to tell her all the moments he'd thought about previously. Hours began to pass and the night was soon at its darkest hour. Yet, Tom continued to talk to Rachel.

Suddenly, a small, weak voice pulled him out of his memories.

"Tom?" She whispered weakly, barely louder than the wind. Her eyes crept open then and she squinted slowly as her eyes adjusted to the light, recognizing the figure who's head was resting on her bed and grasping her hand tightly. "Tom," she said again weakly but this time with a hint of certainty in her tone.

His head shot up, a smile flooded his tired face. "Rachel?" He breathed, full of relief and excitement to hear his name on her lips again.

"Hi," she said breathlessly as she attempted to smile weakly.

"Hi," he answered back with a smile as he leaned even farther forward toward her.

"You're here," she whispered.

"Of course. But more importantly, you're here. We almost lost you," his voice caught in his throat.

Her usually sharp mind was clouded with exhaustion, pain, and medication. Nevertheless, she saw the pain in his eyes and that hurt her more than her shoulder. "But I'm stubborn," she smirked, bringing him back to his command to her house before as she bled out in his arms.

"Yes. Yes, you are," he breathed with thankfulness, his eyes baring into hers with such intensity she almost looked away.

"I'm here because you found me," she corrected. "You saved me, didn't you?" she assumed, not remembering everything that had happened after he'd found her. It was all still a blur.

"I guess it was my turn after all," he smiled. "I was actually just thinking about how I owed you, you know." Rachel looked at him with tired and confused eyes as he continued. "After the oil rig, you saved me too. And I never really got to tell you... I never got to tell you what that meant. I was too busy, too preoccupied about who we lost, what we needed to do to finish the mission but Rachel," he said her name with emphasis, her eyes widening slightly as she heard her name on his lips. "Rachel, I know things between us then were... well difficult, to say the least."

"You did what you had to," Rachel interrupted him; weakness still in her voice. She had forgiven him long ago.

"But still, thank you. I should have told you, you _do_ use your powers for good," he repeated her words back to him. "You are good and I've never doubted that. Which is why the person who did this will pay. I promise he will."

Tears began forming in her eyes due to both the memory of being gunned down but also the depth of emotion in his promise. She was overcome by his words and the way her heart fluttered at his promise of protection. "Did you...?" she began, voice still weak and tired.

"We'll find him, Rachel," he finished for her with a squeeze of her hand still in his, knowing exactly what she was asking and wanting her to save her strength for her recovery.

"I know you will," she breathed a sigh of relief.

"And I know you'll hate it but you have guards 24/7 again," he told her.

"Somehow I think I'm beginning to love that idea," she grinned.

"Then I guess your protection still _is_ up to me," he told her, reminding her of her words to him in the hallway.

"And I won't fight you on it. _This_ time," she teased. Despite her wounded state, she could still spar with him just as easily as they always had. It made his heart soar.

"Hey! As long as you're alive, you can fight with me any time," Chandler told her with a smile but full of meaning. She responded with a smile and a tiny chuckle that turned into a wince of pain as she scrunched up her injured shoulder. "You need to rest," he told her, leaning forward, her pain becoming his own.

She rolled her eyes in stubbornness and began to protest. "No, I'm fine," she started.

"Rachel," he whispered as he gave her a knowing look.

She knew he was right. Rachel nodded before she spoke. "Can you..." she began gently. "Can you keep talking to me?" she asked, shyness in her voice as she tried to hide her fear of being alone after her ordeal and fear that if she went back to sleep she might not wake up again if she made a turn for the worse. She was a doctor after all and she knew it was a possibility. Tom's heart swelled, the nurse had been right. He wanted her to sleep but he saw a glimmer of fear in her eyes. The last time she was alone, she'd nearly lost her life. He didn't want her to ever feel that way again. He would make sure she knew he was there no matter what.

"Of course," he nodded with understanding. "I'm an expert at bedtime stories," he winked despite her look of bewilderment. "You know, when Ashley was little, she used to tell me she wasn't tired at bedtime. That child would never go to sleep," his expression said _just like someone else I know_ and Rachel only looked at him guiltily. "So I would make a deal with her. I would tell her if she could make it through one story without falling asleep, she could stay up past her bedtime. She never won. She always fell asleep before the end like I knew she would. But let's just say those princess fairy tales turned into novels sometimes while I waited for her to finally sleep."

"Is that what you're doing with me?" she asked.

"Maybe," Chandler smiled. Rachel sunk further back into her pillows as she continued listening.

"Sam has always been different. That child can sleep and will sleep anywhere. He's out like a light, just like that," he said with a snap of his fingers. Rachel smiled contently. They hadn't had a chance to talk about his kids much. She'd spent some time with them when they'd gone on land after taking down Granderson's operation but were back on the sea too soon to really get to know them. "You'll have to see them when they come down. My father is bringing them at the end of the week," Tom continued, hoping to give Rachel something to look forward to and keep her holding on.

Rachel nodded and smiled as sleep was beginning to slowly overtake her. He started to continue. "You'll have to let them try that tea," he grinned.

"You hate that tea," she breathed, barely above a whisper as sleep was overwhelming her but unable to resist their typical back and forth.

"I don't _hate_ it," Tom argued. "I just can think of about a million other things I would drink before that," he smirked and a small smile tugged at her lips.

"Do you remember the first time you brought that tea to me? It was awful. But I didn't care because you were close to a cure. And you know, I had never seen you smile before that night. I don't know why it stuck with me but I remember it like it was yesterday. It's true. You were so stressed and overwhelmed with what you had to do all the time or too busy arguing with me," he smirked as he continued. "But that night on the deck, you were so happy and I finally saw you smile - a _real_ smile. It gave me hope that we were close to a cure." Sleep didn't matter in that moment. Rachel's face broke into a massive smile as she looked Tom in the eyes.

"There it is," he said as her contagious smile spread across his face. "But you don't always smile when we have tea you know," he continued, giving her a knowing look as if she would know exactly the instance he was talking about. And she certainly did.

"Do you remember the night after we got back from the Vyerni?" Rachel only rolled her eyes at the memory of the argument. "I was so mad at you," he began retelling the story as if she hadn't been present when it happened."You brought me tea on the flight deck that night as usual and I could barely look at you at first."

"I know," she whispered painfully.

"You should never have put yourself in danger like that. My life, Tex's life, none of us were or are more important than you..." he paused, "the vaccine and the cure. I don't know who I was more angry with: Mike for letting you go or you for volunteering to risk your life in the first place." He squeezed her hand tighter then, not realizing he was doing it. But she did.

 _"I brought you this," Rachel whispered as she approached the Captain. She didn't want to startle the man as he stood against the ship's railing in the dark._

 _Tom turned around, his mouth was set tight and his eyes avoided her gaze. She could tell something was wrong. She wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or losing one of his men but something told her it had to do with her. She cautiously handed him one of the mugs. "Thank you," he replied curtly._

 _"I thought you might need it," she kept trying. "It's a special herb, it should help with the sunburn and to avoid any sun-poisoning." She sidled up beside him now. He was still looking out over the ocean and she could tell something was bothering him. "You've been through a lot. Are you alright?" she asked._

 _He turned to her then, pain evident in his eyes. "How could you do that, Rachel?" She didn't know what she was more shocked by, this ridiculous question or the way he'd used her first name. It excited her far more than it should have._

 _"What on earth are you talking about?" she responded, immediately becoming defensive._

 _"I told Mike their orders were to continue with the mission and he didn't listen. Then, if that wasn't enough,_ you _had to go and sacrifice yourself. Ruskof was ruthless. He would have kept you as his prisoner. Or you could have died, Rachel!" He looked at her with his last sentence. Tremors went up her spine once again the way he said her name and the way he was looking at her so intently. "Then where would we be? You're our only hope. We might never have had the vaccine if something happened."_

 _"I already had the vaccine when I went onboard. Quincy could have continued my work if something had happened,"_

 _"Oh that's comforting," he cut her off as he rolled his eyes, no faith in Quincy._

 _"I had to try!" she argued vehemently. "Because you're stuck with me, remember? And I'm stuck with you," she brought him back to a distant conversation they had once had. "Quite frankly, I'd rather it remain that way," she said, emotions betraying her. "We all need you as much as you need me. You're this crew's hope too, you know? They would follow you to the ends of the earth if that's what you needed. No one was going to just leave you."_

 _He looked at her, knowing she was right but he was still too angry, mostly with himself that he had caused her to be put in harm's way. "I'm sorry. I just..." he couldn't find the words to explain why her being in danger had affected him so deeply._

 _"It's over now," she finished for him. "We have the vaccine. You and Tex survived. We can start trials. We're so close."_

 _"Thank you," he said, taking a step closer toward her. "You saved our lives out there and you're going to do it again with this vaccine. Thank you."_

 _She could only smile, happy his anger had subsided and they were back to normal again and growing closer every day._

 _"So, does this one taste as bad as the other one?" he said as he looked into the mug. He took a sip of the cup, his face contorted but he swallowed the liquid. "Yep, knew it."_

 _She shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "For a man who has faced the enemies you have, you're kind of a baby," she joked._

 _"That just isn't natural. It's like drinking grass," he argued jovially. "But I'll admit, this sunburn is worse so I'll try it."_

 _"Doctor's orders," she smiled._

 _"And Rachel?" he smirked and she could see what was coming._

 _She interrupted him to finish his thought. "I know, I know... Don't do it again," she winked with a smile._

 _They had stayed like that for hours. Talking, back to normal after the argument and closer for it._

"I couldn't stay mad at you for long," he finished his story. "You had the vaccine and you _did_ save my life after all," he smiled as she smiled back. "I was just angry I had put you in that position at all," he was just glad they had both survived and he would make sure he kept trying to keep her safe from now on, no matter how stubborn she was.

"Did I ever tell you how proud I was the day you created finished the vaccine? The day you gave us all the cure," he said as he looked deep in her eyes, both of them remembering the moment they'd shared in his quarters. "You'd worked so hard. You saved humanity, Rachel. Do you realize that? You gave us all hope. You're the reason we can keep living. I'm still amazed by it," he smiled.

 _She pulled the syringe out of his arm, eyes still glued to his. Dabbing it with the gauze as she brought her face closer to the red injection site. She gently blew on where she had given him the shot to ease the stinging. A tingle ran down his spine at her closeness, feeling her breath on him. She wiped the area once more and placed the bandage over it._

 _Rachel reached up to roll down his t-shirt sleeve but he was already working on it. Their fingers brushed, lingering for a split second before they both pulled away, trying to ignore the electricity between them._

 _"Well, Captain, one down, 198 more to go," she smiled before stifling a yawn._

 _"Rachel," there it was. He said her name again and she froze. She had to get out of this cabin. "When was the last time you slept?"_

 _"I don't know... I think I got a few hours the day we chose the trial participants," she shrugged but braced for a lecture._

 _"Rachel! That was days ago! You have to sleep!" Tom insisted._

 _"I'm fine. There is still so much to do. I need to make sure we have enough to continue creating the vaccine."_

 _"No, you need to sleep first. You won't be useful to anyone if you pass out from exhaustion," he explained._

 _"But," she started to protest._

 _"No," he held up his hand as he made his way over to her. "Rachel, you did it. We have it. We're going to be okay. The world is going to be saved because of_ you _. Don't you think you deserve to at least rest?"_

 _She couldn't argue with him on that. And, though she'd never tell him, getting sleep might help the dizziness and nausea she was feeling, no doubt from lack of sleep or food._

 _"Go on," he continued when he could see he'd won her over._

 _As she made her way out the door, he stopped her once more to encourage her but because he suddenly felt her absence in his quarters. "Smile, Rachel," he grinned. "You did it."_

 _She grinned back at him, a full genuine smile like the one he'd see on the flight deck when they shared tea and it was just the two of them, before turning and walking down the hallway away from him as he watched her in her pink shirt and jeans._

"I don't think you realized it then. Maybe you still don't really. But I did. You literally saved the human race. You, the doctor no one believed in. The woman the President thought was a quack. You proved them all wrong. You did it, it was all you."

"But you believed in me," she said gratefully.

"I still do," he winked with a squeeze of her hand.

As his stories had progressed and minutes passed, her head had sunk back further into the pillow. As he spoke, she was taking longer blinks than normal and her eyes were glazing over as her breaths were slowing.

He could see how tired she was, the way her eyelids were getting heavy. She still reminded him of Ashley when she was younger, begging her father not to go to bed and saying she wasn't tired as her sleepy eyes drooped to betray her. Rachel needed to rest. But he knew her too well. Trying to get the woman who never slept to actually sleep was a mammoth task. "Rachel..." he whispered. "Sleep," he commanded gently.

When she didn't fight him, he knew he was right. He felt a small squeeze of her hand, still grasping his as she closed her eyes and a peaceful, contented look overtook her face. She was out immediately but this time it was different. Her closed eyes surrounded by the IV drips and heart monitors didn't worry him as much anymore. He had been granted his wish, she was on the way to recovery.

He sat with her as she slept; forehead resting against her hand that had never left his own. He was exhausted but not nearly enough to keep him from missing a moment in case she took a turn for the worse or just in case he missed hearing one breath that helped him remember she had pulled through. The nurses came on their nightly rounds periodically and Mullowsky and Rios took their turns checking on Rachel but Tom was the constant.

The sun had risen through the windows but Rachel remained beautifully asleep. Tom didn't realize how late it was until a new face emerged through the door. Kara appeared, her red and swollen eyes betrayed her. She had barely slept - both from the excitement of her engagement and fear that Rachel, her new friend and doctor, might not make it. Tom gave her a reassuring smile as she approached the bed, instantly turning her worried face to a cautiously hopeful smile.

"Sir," she began.

"Lieutenant," Chandler responded in less of a leadership tone and more like that of a father.

"How is she?" Kara ventured.

"She's pulling through," he smiled. "She woke up last night and talked a bit so that's a good sign. But she's resting again now."

"Have you been here all night, sir?" Kara asked, although she wasn't exactly surprised. Tom nodded and she continued. "I can sit with her now if you'd like. Commander Slattery is looking for you. The President would still like to see you," she finished.

Although Tom hated leaving Rachel, he knew he had to see the President and create a plan to take down these rogue Immunes. He also wanted to discuss the ridiculous plan the man had created of leaving Rachel with no guards and sending her across the country without his consultation.

"Alright, thank you. The nurses check on her about every hour. You can press this button if you need anything or if something happens," he explained as he moved toward the door, instantly feeling a coldness in his hands as Rachel's left his own.

"Oh and Kara," Tom remembered before he walked out the door. "It helps if you talk to her. About anything. They say... The nurses, they say it helps. I'm sure she'd love to hear about that new ring on your finger," he winked as he nodded toward the shiny object on her left hand. "I assume congratulations are in order."

Kara blushed as she spoke, "Yes, thank you sir."

Tom nodded and risked a longing look at Rachel once more, not missed by Kara, before reluctantly exiting the hospital room.

Chandler found Slattery close outside the door and updated him on Rachel's condition. In turn, Slattery explained that the teams still hadn't made progress on finding the shooter but were still trying in rotated groups so the crew could rest. Tom said he and the President would devise a plan and then he made his way to the top floor where the President's quarters and temporary office were located.

As soon as he was given the okay to enter, Tom stalked into the room and approached the man at the desk.

"Is that blood on your shirt?" the President asked in astonishment as he took in Chandler's red stained shirt.

"It's Rachel's blood," Tom answered painfully, the anger he had tried to suppress rising in him at the reminder. "Blood from when she was shot by an Immune. The people you once helped," Chandler spoke with accusation. He needed someone to blame. He'd conquered one white whale and it was time for another one.

Michener looked hard at Tom, unable to ignore the facts and the pain his past brought forth. "Not anymore," he uttered with conviction.

"How could you take away her guards? She _is_ the cure! If anything, she's the most important person on the planet and now she's fighting for her life! You _knew_ what they were capable of! What people can do because of this virus! And you still let her be alone!?"

"Captain!" the President cautioned.

"And you were just going to send her away?" Tom threw up his hands. "Where she couldn't be protected? And you _knew_ the threats were still there!" he pointed his finger at the man.

"She insisted!"

"I don't care what she wanted, _you_ should have protected her! _I_ should have protected her!" And that was when the President realized the root of Tom's anger. He hadn't fully made sense of it all until now but scenes began playing over in his head - the way Chandler had staunchly defended Rachel from the start, the way he had insisted Dr. Scott be sent off ship the moment danger arose, or the way he'd been so conflicted about convicting her and the way he'd begged him to pardon her.

"I know what she means to you..." the President tested with brotherly understanding in his tone, unsure if Tom recognized it himself yet. He knew Tom had lost his wife recently and wasn't sure if he was ready to face those new feelings.

"She saved my life, multiple times," Tom began, a glanced passed between the two men, knowing much more remained unspoken. "I wouldn't be here... none of us would be here without her. She's risked her life for me, for my crew, for the world. She didn't deserve this," he breathed, his voice breaking with emotion in his last words.

"I know. I will do everything in my power to keep her safe from now on. She will have guards again immediately and be fully protected when she recovers enough to continue her mission in spreading the cure."

"Sir, there is no way she can go away now," Tom said with bewilderment.

"Captain, as a free civilian that _is_ her decision. And she _is_ needed to spread the cure and build labs throughout the country. Ultimately, it's not up to you," he cautioned. " _However_ ," he added, "I fully support her remaining with the crew of the _Nathan James_ for the foreseeable future for her protection and I _will_ make that known."

"Thank you," Tom replied.

"And you know, no matter how strong-willed she is, I think she'll support that notion as well," Michener finished with a knowing look in his eye as he met Tom's gaze.

"I hope so," Chandler said without thinking. He caught himself, worried his growing feelings were going to betray him. And he had a sneaking suspicion the President was catching onto something too. "Now, we need a plan to catch the man who did this."

After briefing one another on their knowledge of the situation, the Captain and the President worked hastily to develop a plan to uncover the remaining rogue Immunes. Tom however was growing impatient as the time wore on, hoping to get back to check on Rachel. Even though they had spoken and she seemed to be on the road to recovery, he'd lost too many people be completely hopeful just yet.

Both men finally had a plan together. Tom would work with Slattery and what remained of the local government to create a more effective task force to not only find Rachel's shooter but to eliminate any rogue Immunes who might cause problems for the St. Louis community or the surrounding areas.

Tom rose to leave the President's office. "Captain," the President stopped him. "I promise we're going to find the person who did this to her," he told him with fervor, knowing the man needed to hear it to show his loyalty after the horror he had helped cause during his time with the Immunes but also because he could sense the worry still lingering in the Captain's eyes. He could tell his mind was far away in a hospital room downstairs.

Tom nodded and saluted his Commander in Chief. "Thank you, sir," he said as he left the room. He knew he should change and get some sleep but he had to check on Rachel again. He thought she was probably still asleep but he had to make sure she was still on the road to recovery.

Little did he know, she was wide awake and having quite the conversation of her own.


End file.
